


Pocket Full of Time

by Taffyberry



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29464089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taffyberry/pseuds/Taffyberry
Summary: Overlooking the sea, the warrior of light realises she has more in common with her foe than she would like, and, just for a brief moment, maybe it's okay to be familiar with him.
Relationships: Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Kudos: 8





	Pocket Full of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 of #emetwolvalentione2021 on twitter! Not sure how I feel at all OTL still trying to get the writing confidence and pace back. xd This is the moment they fell in love; or well, Ahya, my wol, realise she's begun to fall in love with him.

Kholusia's golden, singing sky was laughing at Ahya. 

Or, that was how it felt anyway. She had some time to herself, for once, and had slipped away from the Crystarium. In hindsight Kholusia probably wasn't the best place with Vauthry increasingly angered by her and her companions actions but... but she wanted to be alone. It was... nice to have everyone together again, and things seemed better with Y'shtola around. She had little patience for half truths and concealing things, but even then, her near constant, piercing gaze was too much. She _knew_ there was something wrong with her, she didn't need the constant reminder. 

If she were to tell the truth, she felt tired and she wanted to go home. She wanted to take her friends home, she was fed up of where it was all going, and, if she were brutally honest, she almost wished she had not been blessed with some 'echo' or become some... warrior of light. 

No. 

She didn't mean that.

Ahya loved to help people. Even when she tried to stop herself, she always found herself at the side of those in need, already preparing to help them out. She liked to travel lands, make new friends, and bring stories from here, there and everywhere. The first should have been a new place to explore, with new peoples to befriend, but she couldn't help but feel as if she had stepped into something... too much this time. There was a constant feeling hanging over her, a weight on her shoulders. She lent forward to breathe in the sea air, but even that was not the same as home. She missed the busy streets of Limsa, she missed watching the ships go out fishing, she missed watching new adventurers stare in awe around the place. She missed Ishgard, too. The first place she had considered home in a long time, and she missed the people there. Hells, she even missed the bitter cold. How were things back home? The exarch had mentioned time went differently between worlds-- the Hyur took a deep breath and calmed herself-- he had said it was entering a period of equality. There was no way anything at home had progressed without her. Krile and Tataru would be fine. She would return with her friends. It would be fine.

Wouldn't it?

The sound of footsteps caught her attention, and she glanced behind almost expecting Alphinaud, but blinked in surprise to find the Ascian, Emet-selch, approaching. "You usually skulk and approach in silence," she sneered. "Are you desperate for me to attack you, or something? What do you want?"

"Must you be so distrusting?" Emet-selch sighed, shrugging as he approached her. "You merely seemed in need of someone to talk to, and since I enjoyed an extraordinarily good nap, I found myself in the mood to offer my own ear. But, if it is not wanted...."

Then, to his surprise, Ahya's face relaxed, and she moved her head to return looking out to the sea. A longing look on her face, one he knew all too well. The sky above chimed again, and even he frowned in annoyance at it. Stupid thing. "You would find it ridiculous."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ridiculous or not, I have offered my services, have I not? And, I might point out, I have done nothing so far as to cause your distrust. I said I merely liked to watch, and I have done just that, have I not? And did I not lend my aid just days ago in retrieving your friend?"

Why was he trying so hard? He knew a lot about her -- and he reasoned it was finding out about his enemy -- yet the inner workings of her mind remained, of course, a mystery. And, what was more, was despite knowing about her, she often acted in ways which shocked and surprised him. In ways vaguely reminiscent of _her_. He knew it, deep down, but he refused to give it any more thought. He was mistaken, it had been too long and he was too tired. 

"I miss home," she said out of the blue. Ahya gave him a sheepish look. "I know saying that to you is a but much...."

It was; yet the tenderness in his voice made him pause. It reminded him of one night when Azem had seen too much sorrow and had returned home early. Stood in front of his door, soaked from the pouring rain and had said, quite meekly, she missed home. She had been silent for hours, enjoyed a hot bath and than had tucked herself beside him, into a spot he was almost certain existed just for her, she fit perfectly after all. How long had it been since he had felt her warmth against him? She would lecture him, of course, disagree completely with his plans and yet, what was he to do, tempered as he was? 

Emet-selch had wanted to chastise this girl, but he found himself unable to. This might have been the first time they had actually spoken and... he didn't want to ruin it. And, though he would pace and berate himself for his curiosity, he wanted to know. As if somehow he could stop her, use honeyed words to bring her to their side; what a weapon she would be, and yet... he knew... he knew.  
  
Instead, his lips set into a grim line and he sat near her. It was quite a nice spot, he supposed. "What, even the petty fighting you are constantly dragged into?"

She let out a small laugh. "Contrary to what you think, I don't enjoy killing Garleans." 

He shrugged in response-- he was not bothered if she did. It just furthered his point about the nature of their kind, as fickle and feeble as they were.

"My parents were Garleans," she said out of nowhere. This surprised him, this he did not know. He remained impassive. "Adopted," she elaborated. "My real home was destroyed during a... conquest-" his lip twitched, trying not to laugh at the way she had said it. "I don't know if my real parents are still alive but if they left a baby alone..." she shrugged. "The two who adopted me... they were good people."

Part of him wanted to ask if only to console her grief, but the tone in her voice as she spoke about them was all he needed to know it was still to raw and painful. He wondered if she had a hand in their deaths and found he hoped not. That type of guilt changed a person. He should know. It was not something he wished for anyone else to carry with them, and yet, if she saw this through to the end and could not contain the light... wouldn't that fate be hers? Either her friends killed her, or she killed them. His stomach tightened, and he frowned at himself.  
  
The woman sighed and leaned back on her hands. "Sometimes I wonder if we are not overly alike, you and I. Is there a future somewhere that I would destroy worlds to reclaim all I held dear?" She glanced over at him and was surprised to find him deep in thought. 

She had never truly looked at him before, she supposed he was quite handsome though-- she eyed the white hair and found she felt it added to a... certain charm he seemed to have. There were lines in his face, not from old age, but from being contorted into expressions she was surprised to find she felt as though did not have the right to be there. He was young, but his voice was ageless, and his eyes held stories to fill a lifetime.   
  
Ahya shocked herself when she wanted to ask, and instead brought her knees up to her chest. She could be him. That could be her. That could be her future sat next to her, alone, carrying the burden of years... of the lives of a star-- more than one star... people she loved, people she broke bread with. How lonely, how isolating. She thought of Ardbert and her heart panged. To be that lonely, to have that burden... She yearned to reach out to him, to somehow console him. It was strange, how suddenly the realisation had brought some understanding and how she felt suddenly so... at peace with him. So comfortable in his presence. It almost seemed as though a pocket of time had formed around them, that they had been talking and sitting in each others melancholy company for longer than minutes.

She frowned to herself. She wanted to ask him more about it, but at risk of endearing him to her more, she stopped herself, and instead bit her lip. This newfound... appreciation for him, this... understanding.... If it went any further, would she hold the strength to stop him, if that's what she had to do? If she had to stand in his way....  
  
What was it Ardbert had said? One life for one world?  
  
Emet-selch tutted and glanced at her. "You look incredibly morose. It is unbecoming. Spit it out."  
  
She frowned at him. "And here I was, actually deciding that maybe I liked you."

It was hard not to laugh at the mocking hurt look he gave her, instead Ahya drew her lips into a tight line. "Whatever would your friends say," he said, trying to sound scandalised. "Liking the enemy."  
  


Her eyes widened and she sat back and thought about it. "What would they say... I wonder...?" she frowned. Would they understand the feelings which had endeared him? She was not oblivious to what was happening to her-- it was incredibly hard not to be aware of it. She felt... changed inside, like something was breaking into many shards of glass and the more they carried on, the more strained it became. It explained why the Ascian was so happy to sit back and let it carry on. He didn't care about his plan undoing if it ended her interference in the process, yet she couldn't find it within her to be mad at him for it. After all, he had not forced this upon her. He had not given her no choice. It had been her all along, walking the path which had led her here. She could choose not to fight-- couldn't she?

Well... no, she doubted she could. Ahya chewed the inside of her lip. She helped people on instinct. She could no longer stop herself than she could stop the earth from moving beneath her. It was impossible. She glanced at him again. This understanding... she found herself wishing for this moment not to end. It was... nice, and she felt comfortable with him. In another life... she closed her eyes... could they? Yet, she was so much aware that whatever this warmth in her chest was, it was one sided. Surprisingly, she found she did not mind this, just the warm feeling alone was. She dug her hand into the earth below them, resisting the urge to ask him to runaway together, somewhere far where no one would find either and ask them to continue on this... this fight. This burden. Let it belong someone else!

"Are you hungry?" she asked absently, hauling her pack into her lap. "I made biscuits this morning-- I ... do it a lot when I have something on my mind and-" she looked at him, her eyes wide and sincere, so much so that he was quite taken aback by it. "I mean... you must eat, right?"  
  
"Of course we do," he muttered, scowling, and albeit confused.  
  
Biscuits? She was offering him biscuits? He watched in disbelief as she broke one in half and offered it to him. What as he supposed to do? He had a mind to decline, to tell her it was ridiculous but instead he reached out and took it, confused at his own actions and the warmth which spread across her cheeks. He watched her as she nibbled away, refusing to meet his gaze, but the redness in her cheeks remained. He understood her less and less with each absurd notion she decided to enact.

Why couldn't she get to know him without the looming future, where it would be her or him left standing? He was her enemy, and she knew this, and before her time was up in the First, she knew she would have to fight him. When it came to that she would lock away any of these feelings, but, for now, just for this small pocket of time which seemed to form around them, perhaps it was okay to let herself like him, just a little more than she should.


End file.
